South Korea's Ministry of Science and ICT is strengthening security for IP cameras and other internet-of-things (IoT) products. The move follows the discovery of vulnerabilities in some products during a recent domestic inspection of IP cameras and a hacking incident involving refrigeration and freezing equipment in Europe.

The ministry said on Wednesday it will demand security improvements from manufacturers and distributors and pursue制度 improvements based on the results of the IP camera security inspection conducted with the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA) and the Korea Consumer Agency.

IoT products, including IP cameras, have spread rapidly to homes and industrial sites in recent years. But a series of hacking incidents exploiting security flaws has also increased concerns about personal data leaks and privacy violations. In Europe, a control system for refrigeration and freezing equipment was hacked and temperatures were manipulated remotely, leading to large-scale disposal of food at about 700 stores, as cyber attacks targeting IoT devices and industrial control systems continue.

Following last year's inspection of robot vacuum cleaners, the ministry conducted a security inspection of IP cameras this year. The results showed KISA found major security vulnerabilities in some IP camera products that could lead to privacy violations. KISA notified the companies involved of the vulnerabilities and requested improvements. The companies are now taking measures to address major vulnerabilities. For other vulnerabilities, manufacturers submitted improvement plans to the Korea Consumer Agency.

Based on the results, the ministry plans to hold talks with major IP camera manufacturers and distributors within this year and demand improvements to product security. It also prepared IoT security guidelines for consumers and manufacturers.

For consumers, it recommended changing default passwords when purchasing and installing products, applying the latest security updates, and performing a factory reset when trading used devices or disposing of them. For manufacturers, it recommended disabling unnecessary services and functions from the design and development stage, managing vulnerabilities after launch, and providing security updates.

Lim Jeong-gyu (임정규), director general for information security network policy at the ministry, said, "We expect this IP camera security inspection to play an important role in improving product security and raising consumer awareness." He said, "To continuously enhance product security, we will periodically reiterate the security guidelines and push related制度 improvements."